Pencil-sharpener and point-protector.



No. 795,920. PATENTED AUG. 1, 1905. A. LEVINGSTON.

PENCIL SHARPENER AND POINT PROTECTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED DEO.15, 1904.

AARON LEVINGSTON, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

PENCIL-SHARPENER AND POINT-PROTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1905.

Application filed December 15, 1904:. Serial No. 236,949.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, AARON LEVINGSTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pencil-Sharpeners and Point-Protectors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates toacombined pencilsharpener and point-protector; and my object is to produce a device of this character which need never be removed from the pencil, and therefore is in no danger of being mislaid and ost.

A further object is to produce a device of this character whichis of simple, durable, and

cheap construction and which performs its consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization, as hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a leadpencil equipped with a combined pencil-sharpener and point-protector embodying my invention, said device being disposed in the position it occupies when either sharpening the pencil or protecting its point. Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of a pencil with the deviceadvanced on the pencil a suflicient distance to permit its protector member to be swung aside to uncover the point for use, said protector member being shown in dotted lines in its new position,where, it will be observed, it affords no obstruction to the free'use of the pencil. Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken'on' the line III III of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is asection on the dotted line IV'of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 designates a split sleeve of spring metal, so that said sleeve will adapt itself to lead-pencils A of slightly-varying form or size in cross-section. Pivoted to the sleeve member of the device, as at 2, are the comparatively long and narrow oppositely-disposed arms 4 of the cone member 3, said arms 4 being of considerable length-in order to provide comparatively long slots 5 between them for a purpose which presently appears. From the base of one of said slots and nearly to the apex of the cone the latter is split, as at 6, and one edge of said split portion is sharpened and bent inward beyond the plane of the inner side of the cone, this bent portion or knifeedge 7 being tempered in any suitable manner, so that it shall act to sharpen a lead-pencil extending through the sleeve and into the cone, the sleeve acting to hold the pencil as it is rotated in being sharpened from lateral v movement or vibration. As a result the pencil is sharpened symmetrically that is, is sharpened the same all around instead of being cut more on one side than at the other, as would be the case in most instances, at least, if the cone and the operators eye were depended upon to hold the pencil in absolute axial alinement with the cone While being turned in the latter. Where the snugly-fitting sleeve is employed all that the operator is called upon to perform is to impose forward pressure on the pencil as he rotates the latter.

When the pencil is not in use, the device occupies the same relation to the pencil as when the latter is being sharpened-that is to say, the cone member incloses the sharpened end of the pencil and in such position'it obviously protects the point from breakage.

When it is desired to write with the pencil, the sleeve is slid forward until the base of slots 5 is slightly in advance of the point of the pencil, and then said cone member is swung back to the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2. If preferred, the operator can slide the sleeve back toward the tip or butt-end of the pencil while using the latter. Practice has demonstrated, however, that the pencil can be used without the slightest discomfort with the cone member occupying substantially the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2. Most people would prefer to slide the sleeve back about a half-inch in order that the operators fingers and thumb shall come in direct contact with the pencil instead of the sleeve.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a deviceof the character described which possesses the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the object of the invention and which may be modified in minor particulars without departing from its spirit and scope or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A device of the character described, comprising a sleeve to fit adjustably upon a pencil, and a cone to inclose the point of the pencil and pivoted to said sleeve.

cil, and a cone to inclose the point of the pencil and pivoted to said sleeve; said cone being provided With an internal knife-edge disposed inward of and substantially paralleling the inner surface of the cone.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

AARON LEVINGSTON.

Witnesses:

H. C. RODGERS, G. Y. THORPE. 

